THE MANITOBA SCHOOL QUESTION. "And you claim the liberty of teaching. Stop! Be sincere ; let us understand the liberty which you claim. of not teaching. You wish us to give you the people to instruct. Very well. Let us see your pupils. Let us see those you produced. What have you done for Italy? What have you done for Spain? For centuries you have kept in your hands, at your discretion, at your school, these two great nations, illustrious among the illustrious. What have you done for them? I shall Italy-which has taught mankına to * * tell * * Spain, thanks to you, a yoke of stupor, which is a yoke of degradation and decay."-VICTOR HUGO. Printed at the Manitoba Institution for the Deaf and Dumb. TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER III.—Bad Features of the Old System. CHAPTER IV.-Distribution of the Legislative Grant. CHAPTER V.-Some Practical Difficulties which make a Dual CHAPTER VI.-Changes made by the acts of 1890-National CHAPTER VII.-Did the acts of 1890 introduce Protestant exercises or confiscate Roman Catholic property. CHAPTER VIII.-Reasons for passing the acts of 1890. CHAPTER IX.-Manitoba followed the example of the civilized CHAPTER X.-The four arguments for a return to the old system.--No. 1—The conscience argument. CHAPTER XI.-No. 2.-The Treaty argument. The Hierarchy CHAPTER XII.-No. 2.-The Treaty argument-The "Parlia- mentary Compact" absurdity-An interesting photograph and some hitherto unpublished facts about Bill of Rights CHAPTER XIII.-No. 3.-The legal argument-The Roman Catholic appeal heard by a committee of politicians at Ottawa who did not sit as a Judicial body. CHAPTER XIV. No. 4.-The Gospel of Despair as preached by Dr. Grant-Confederation precedents do not apply and CHAPTER XV.—The Grant letters-A series of misstatements -How Dr. Grant copied Socrates. CHAPTER XVI.-Conclusion-The Remedial Order folly— THE MANITOBA SCHOOL QUESTION. "The system of education embodied in the Acts of 1890 no doubt commends itself to, and adequately supplies the wants of the great majority of the inhabitants of the Province" (of Manitoba).-From judgment of Privy Council in the Referred case. "It is not the law that is at fault; it is owing to religious convictions, which everybody must respect, and to the teaching of their church, that Roman Catholics and members of the Church of England find themselves unable to partake of advantages which the law offers to all alike."—From judgment of Privy Council in City of Winnipeg v. Barrett. From CHAPTER I. THE PRESENT SITUATION. Form the year 1890, when the new educational law of Manitoba was enacted, until quite recently, the Dominion Government managed to keep the now celebrated school controversy out of the House of Commons, and to confine it to the Courts of Justice. With the passage of the remedial order in March last all this was changed. The question is now a political one. A government has been found in Canada willing to declare that, as a matter of public policy, it is more important that some alleged |